Legislation aimed at protecting homeowners against overly aggressive use of eminent domain also includes necessary protections for businesses, NJBIA Vice President David Brogan said today.  The measure, A-3257 (Burzichelli) , is scheduled for a vote today in the full Assembly.

“For many small business owners, their business is their life; it defines their place in the community,” Brogan said.  “They have created it and nurtured it for many years with long hours and a tremendous financial commitment.  A-3257 recognizes this and ensures at the very least that if government acquires property through eminent domain, the business owners themselves will be compensated for the goodwill of the business, not just the real estate.”

Brogan pointed out that many business owners rent their business properties and are not compensated under existing eminent domain laws that consider only the value of the buildings and grounds.  A-3257 would provide compensation for business “goodwill,” the intrinsic value of a business beyond its related property or land.

“A business is more than bricks and mortar,” Brogan said.  “It has value beyond what's listed in the tax rolls.  It's time our eminent domain laws reflect that moving businesses away from their local customer base has a financial impact as well.”

The bill would also:

• increase the maximum financial amount of business relocation assistance from $10,000 to $45,000 over three years, with future increases indexed to inflation;
• create a higher standard of “detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the community” before property could be condemned;
• require a local government to support its “detrimental” determination with "objective evidence of detriment” (under current law, no objective evidence is required);
• provide homeowners and business property owners with a right of first refusal to secure a property in the new development;  
• grant businesses a right to appeal a relocation assistance decision; and  
• tighten the requirements for notifying property owners and providing the public with more access to information about eminent domain cases.